So about 25% of the way through the season, I think it's a good time to start picking out early-season MVP candidates. I have 5 that stand out from everyone else, in no particular order. It's pretty much the same as NBA.com's Race to the MVP Ladder by Sekou Smith, mine is grouped differently of course.

I have Chris Paul at number 2, right behind Durant, who's elevated his overall game this year. He's taken on a lot more responsibility and the Thunder look even more dangerous. LeBron at 3, Kobe at 4 and Carmelo at 5 for me.

If Paul keeps the Clippers playing the way they are (11 wins in a row), he's going to be right up there.

What do you guys think? We can kind of use this thread to keep up with the MVP talk as the season progress, because I see a lot of strong candidates, unlike last year where it was pretty much a 2-man race for majority of the year.

The rest of his rankings are pretty interesting as well, so check those out in the link.

CANDIDATES:

Kevin Durant : Oklahoma City Thunder

The Thunder's 12-game win streak came to an end against the Timberwolves Thursday night, but that doesn't diminish the work Durant has put in. Even more impressive than the raw numbers is the fact that he's become a force on both ends of the floor. He's contesting shots, playing physically and demanding that his teammates pay as much attention on the defensive end of the floor as he does on the other side.

Carmelo Anthony : New York Knicks

Anthony missed two games in the past week, a win over the Cavaliers Saturday and the Knicks' first home loss of the season to Jeremy Lin and the Rockets. But when he's healthy, he's every bit as unstoppable as Durant and LeBron James -- if not more. The relentless offensive assault he can unleash on opposing teams, from inside and out, is a sight to behold. His ability to pile up points (31 in 36 minutes in Wednesday's win over the Nets) is mind-boggling.

LeBron James : Miami Heat

James will never admit it, but he's finally starting to look like he could use a mini-vacation. And who could blame him after the year he's had? Of course, James playing winded and wounded is still better than 99.9 percent of the rest of the players on the planet. But with the burden he'll have to carry for this team, the Heat have to find some time for him to rest and rejuvenate before the postseason.

Chris Paul : Los Angeles Clippers

If anyone has made a case for breaking into that top group, it's Paul. The Clippers are playing at a level no one is used to seeing from this franchise. It starts and ends with the fact that Paul is running his team better than any other point guard these days. Knowing whento push and whennot to push is what separates Paul from his peers at the position. The challenge now is making sure his team plays at this elite level all the time, postseason included.

Kobe Bryant : Los Angeles Lakers

The closer the Lakers get to full strength, the better the chances of Bryant stepping back and allowing someone else (Steve Nash) to shoulder some of the responsibility for making sure this team competes and achieves at the level its talent dictates. The Lakers have won three straight and are still a sub-.500 team (12-14), so there is plenty of work to be done. The first order of business is finding a way to reduce Bryant's minutes from the 41 he's averaging the past 10 games.

Based on that stat, I'd give it to James right now. However, I don't like to base basketball awards solely on statistics, but the other things the players do on the court to make their team better. This'll be interesting.

Edited by -Wade-, December 21, 2012 - 04:22 PM.

"I'm always a firm believer in us being able to make our own decisions." --Kobe Bryant

-Of the 5 players I listed, he's the least complete this season. By far.-New York's success can easily be attributed to multiple players elevating their game (Kidd, Felton, Smith)

Carmelo is scoring more than he has in recent years and he's doing it with more efficiency. He hasn't been this offensively complete since his arrival in NY, but that just isn't enough for me.

You could say the same about the Clippers. You're either gonna have to give Chris Paul all the credit and say he's MVP candidate or acknowledge that everyone else has stepped up their game over the past year and so.

Yea thats because the MVP is also a popularity race at times. Melo right now deserves it hands down. Has put the knicks on his back and is balling his ass off. He is avg 28 points with 48% from the field and 46% from three. Knicks are the best team in the east because of him.

You could say the same about the Clippers. You're either gonna have to give Chris Paul all the credit and say he's MVP candidate or acknowledge that everyone else has stepped up their game over the past year and so.

Well, the Clippers have a deeper squad than they did last year, but Blake's numbers across the board are down. So are Caron Butler's and those are arguably 2 of their best 4. Jordan isn't much better either. Shooting more, so he's scoring a bit more but the rest of his numbers across the board are down. It's really been Crawford who's stepped up for them.

Ray Felton is having his best season since being traded by the Knicks. JR Smith is statisically having one of his best seasons as well.Tyson Chandler is having his best offensive season, and his best rebounding season since being a Hornet, so you can argue this is one of his better years as well.

Don't get me wrong, Barnes and Bledsoe are having great years, but their not as important as Griffin or Butler or Jordan or Billups (who's played less than 5 games) who's numbers are all down yet the Clippers are still atop the division and off to one of their better starts in franchise history.

Overall, the Clippers bench scores more (see Crawford) but not by much (6 ppg), Knicks are in the top 10, Clippers at 2.

Felton, Smith, Chandler, Novak, Kidd (!!!) have more to do with New York's success than Melo. Big highlight on Kidd and his experience and leadership.

You could say the same about the Clippers. You're either gonna have to give Chris Paul all the credit and say he's MVP candidate or acknowledge that everyone else has stepped up their game over the past year and so.

You take out Paul from the Clippers and they will be a stupid-ass team. Paul is their floor general. He commands the offense better than anyone else in this league.